The Nation - News from March 8, 1988

The Federal Aviation Administration never intended to require all airline flight crews to pass through metal detectors before boarding aircraft, the Washington Post reported. The agency moved to tighten airport security after the Dec. 7 crash of PSA Flight 1771, which investigators believe was brought down by a disgruntled former ticket agent with a handgun. Under the rules announced Dec. 17, all pilots and flight attendants who pass through public areas with passenger security checkpoints must walk through metal detectors and put their baggage through X-ray machines. However, the rules also allowed uniformed employees with proper identification to skip the metal detectors if they avoid the passenger screening checkpoint by passing through areas off-limits to the public, an FAA spokesman said.